Boston-area and GRE

Magoosh worked great for many friends of mine and myself. It's all online. Used it for a few months and took it. It's not that bad. Don't know anything about those schools, though. Good luck.

I used Kaplan for the GRE. I interviewed at both Northeastern and Boston College. They were very similar regarding the interviews, I would say Boston College was a little more laid back than Northeastern. Both were all day long, they tell you about the program and you get called back one by one for your interview. Both had current students there to answer questions, but I think you only got a tour at BC. If I remember correctly, Northeastern you had one interview and you walked into a room with a very long fancy table with 4-5 people spread out staring at you expressionless. BC wasn't as intimidating, but they both asked similar questions. Be prepared to know everything about whatever you talk about. They will ask you what type of patients you typically take care of, what types of vasoactive gtts you use, and they will ask you clinical questions based on what you tell them. Know how these vasoactive gtts work, what receptors they work on, why you would choose one over the other, dosages and how you would titrate. I think they also both asked about a scenario you had to deal with that was difficult or an ethical dilemma, and how you dealt with it. Also your strengths and weaknesses, why CRNA school and not NP, financial readiness, support, etc. Everyone has weaknesses and being aware of what they are and being able to talk about them makes you a strong applicant.

All schools pretty much look for the same thing in choosing applicants for interviews. Good GPA, CCRN, satisfactory GRE (this is just a formality for grad school in many cases), good experience, strong recommendation letters, shadow experience, and what you have done to get involved with advocating for and advancing your profession. For example, are you on a unit-based council, a research committee, are you involved in some way and self motivated to seek out opportunities for learning and professional development. Just meeting all the requirements will not gain you acceptance into a good program, you have to stand out somehow.

UNE in Maine is not looking at GRE's this year. It's a great program worth checking out. Good luck!